Contemporary Ethics in Relation to Academics and the Use of a Professor's Own Text or Fellow Faculty Member's Text as a Course Requirement.

Fay, Jack R.; Stryker, Judson P.

A study was done of higher education faculty members' views of ethics in relation to academics and the use of a professor's own text or a fellow faculty member's text as a course requirement. A questionnaire was sent to 210 accounting professors selected at random of whom 53 percent responded. The response rate alone indicated a widespread interest in ethics in academics either on a general level or on the particular subject of using one's own text. Results showed that many professors do require their own texts or texts written by members of their own faculty. Some responses raised the question of whether senior faculty might influence junior professors to select texts written by seniors. Also found were the following: 85 percent of respondents felt that is was ethical to require students to purchase a text authored by the professor or their colleagues; only 15 percent of universities or colleges have a policy regarding requiring use of texts written by the instructor or another member of the faculty; and respondents strongly supported the teaching of ethics in their courses. A copy of the survey is included. (JB)